


Arcade game from Hell

by trenchantAlturist



Series: Arcade game from Hell | Cabinet Man AU [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alcohol, Cabinet man AU, Hiding a Body, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Vomiting, but the man was a creep so its ok, demon arcade games, the arcade game killed a man
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:27:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23226292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trenchantAlturist/pseuds/trenchantAlturist
Summary: Hal Strider went missing, then was pronounced dead.  Leaving to his brother a project he "created" to Tavros Nitram, the owner of an Arcade...but something about the game is off.
Series: Arcade game from Hell | Cabinet Man AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1670017
Kudos: 7





	1. Predisposed

The sky was bright, it was hot out. It would've been a picture perfect day had it not been the fact he was at a funeral.

The funeral was for someone he knew, actually. Not all that well, but it was still heartbreaking.  
Hal Strider, only 19 when he was presumably killed. No one actually knows what happened, really, taken the body wasn't actually in the casket. He's sure that everyone, the family, the friends, even just the residents in the town, all had the hope that somewhere, somehow, he wasn't actually dead.  
But he also had a sinking feeling in his gut saying otherwise. He decided to ignore it, instead listening to the family members speaking at the podium about Hal. His twin, Dirk, seeming emotionless behind the triangle shades he wore.  
In fact, all the Striders looked emotionless. This didn't raise any red flags, naturally, taken they all acted like this. It just unsettled Tavros is all.

The speeches came and went, the casket soon being lowered down into the grave, soon the other people attending the funeral dispersing, but not Tavros. Instead, after a few moments of watching, he made his way to the most familiar Strider of the group who was, coincidentally, separated from the others.  
"h-hey, uhm, Dirk" Tavros began, messing with the hem of his dark blazer. Dirk looked up from the ground, fixing the strand of hair that was in front of his face  
"Tavros, hey. Not the best place to meet up again but glad to see you. Sorry it's under these circumstances"  
"yeah, uh, sorry for your loss, man" he gave the other a pat on his shoulder, consoling him as he heard the Strider give a soft sigh  
"Thanks...you know, I always thought I'd go out first," Dirk admitted "yet, here I am…" he sounded far away, like he wasn't mentally all there, and honestly, Tavros doesn't blame him. His brother just died, his twin nonetheless. So he stood there, reassuring him.  
"Actually," Dirk started up, Tavros astounded at how put together he was, especially at such an event as this one ",Hal had something he wanted to give you"  
"uh, me? specifically?"  
Tavros confirmed, Dirk nodding to further confirm it "Yes, you specifically. He wanted to give it to you sooner but...he never got around to it," Dirk paused to look behind him at the casket being lowered, but turned back to Tavros ",but anyways, would it be ok if I brought it over to your arcade tomorrow?" Tavros obviously nodded at that, giving him his best smile "uh, of course!"  
"Alright. Well, I should be getting home now...see you then." 

\--------------

The day after the funeral, he woke up from the sun beaming in through the shades. The previous day didn't feel like it actually happened. But when he got up, pulling on the metal prosthetics so he could go and get ready for the day, he knew that it had in fact happened. Reality, with Tavros, always seemed to merge with Fantasy. 

After hastily getting ready, he made his was downstairs,through the arcade he ran, and out the doors…

...until he was face-to-face with a black arcade game, red circuit-like patterns all on the sides. After doing a once over of the machine, he could safely assume that this, in fact, is the machine Dirk was going to give to him. There wasn't any words on the machine itself that would imply it had a name, but for some project that was probably made in a garage by a pair of twins, it was remarkably well kept. Tavros didn't think much of it, though, taken the Striders were well-known for their gift with mechanics, so he just fetched the dollie he used to move games around to bring in the odd game. 

Not too soon after Tavros had set the game up in it's new resting space, right across from the prize counter, he heard the bell above the door jingle, announcing to him that his coworker had arrived.  
"whats up chief?" Tavros smiled as he looked over to him, seeing the taller man already in the jersey-like vest of the arcade uniform was on, but he was still fixing his hair with help of a reflection in the screen of the game Uh, nothing...but, y-you get my text? About Dirk?¨ he asked curiously, seeing Cronus shake his head while putting the cigarette in his hand out before flicking it into the trashcan. “Well uh, Dirk gave me a game Hal, wanted to give to me, but uh….well, you know, Hal kinda died…”  
“Right, causa’ his bastard ova father, so i’ve heard”  
“Y-yeah uh, but the cops--”  
“Fuck th’cops, they ain’t do shit.” Tavros didn’t have a reply to that, he knew it was true for the most part, really. Terezi might have been a...decent person, but he did know she didn’t do much at the office. “Good, point...but c’mon, uh, lets get this place cleaned. There’s, 20 minutes until opening.” with a nod, Cronus walked over to the prize counter and grabbed the cleaning supplies to start wiping it down.  
On the other hand, Tavros decided to wash down and disinfect the new game. He grabbed the needed items and walked over to it, spraying glass cleaner into the cloth before scrubbing at the screen, but when he took a step away from the machine to grab the other bottles by his feet, he was shocked with the sight of the starting screen.  
“C-Cro?”  
“Yeah, what’s up Tavvy?”  
“Did, you plug the new machine in?” he asked, hearing the other come up behind him, not all too shocked when he felt the leather-clad palm rest on his waist, leaning into it in fact “mm, nope, Thought you did” he replied “Y’tryna freak me out? Cause it ain’t workin’.” He shook his heads at the others suspicions, before just sighing “uh, one of us may have just, forgot, we did,,,lets just keep cleaning” he decided, pulling away from the others hand before kneeling down to start back up on washing down the machine, ignoring the obnoxious beeping that was coming for it. It was whatever, really. He was used to annoying noises coming from the machines that were all around his arcade, but it’s not like he would ever give it up for anything. 

He spent a good 10 minutes cleaning the machine, before he got to the back of it. It was pretty dirty, he noted, so he put the current cloth down and went to take the small backing down in the back of it, before yelping out in pain, There must’ve been a sharp corner, or a nail, or anything that he got his finger caught on something.  
“C-Cro, uh, bring me a band aid will you?” he called out, watching the small drops of blood drip down in the small area of the machine…  
And disappear. He expected to see the blood stain the bottom of the metal, but it just...wasn’t there.  
He stared at where the blood should've been, not even noticing that his co-worker had come up behind him. "I'll clean it up, you go set the prize counter up"  
"uh...there's no need for that," Tavros said as he stood up, taking the band aid that was offered to him and putting it on as he spoke "I can't, see if there even is any blood...don't know where it uh, went."  
"yea?" Cronus obviously didn't believe it, kneeling down and trying to open the hatch that Tavros had closed, only to struggle with it before looking around "Tavbabe, mind giving me the screwdriver?"  
"Uh, even if I had one, I wouldn't give it to you,,,I told you to uh, stop calling me that,,,"  
"It's just to show how much I care, man. Now, I can't get the fucker open but you're probably just seeing things. Or well, not seeing things. Let's just get this place open now, yeah?"  
Tavros, with a sigh, realised he's probably right. He got up and went to the door, flicking the switch by the doors that flashed the neon sign outside of the window on, loudly proclaiming to everyone that the Nitram Emporium was open for the day.

The day went by busily, but fast. As soon as the regulars spotted the new game, they were on it like a pack of dogs. Cronus even went over there to see what the buzz was about, even drawing Tavros' attention to it. "Uh, what's going on?"  
"Th'Game," Cronus said as he watched the screen. Seemed like some kind of platformer, but Tavros couldn't see from his spot in the crowd ",I ain't seen anyone make it past a few levels!"  
"What?" Confused, he shoved his way though the crowd to look at it. It was in fact a platformer, he noted as he watched the player, but it also had shooting levels. It wasn't long until he watched the character die and the player cry out in defeat, begrudgingly give his turn up to let the next person play.  
"It doesn't seem, uh, too hard…" Tavros commented as he watched, ignoring how Cronus slid up next to him and resting his hand on the small of his back "hm? ya think you can beat it?" he asked, The other pausing before nodding "Yeah, uh,I could...but I'll let the kids play it. I have, all the time in the world to...I should, get back to the prize counter, too…" truthfully he could probably leave it unattended for a while, but he just didn't want to stay in the crowd,especially with how touchy Cronus was getting. 

The rest of the day was a flash, Tavros barely having to do anything and even taking an early lunch. The only game nearly anyone was paying attention to was the new one, which Tavros was convinced didn't have a name, but he wasn't complaining! Business was business, he thought as he watched the last customer walk out before he closed up, only being interrupted when he felt two hands on his shoulders,  
"Hey chief" Cronus, who else would it be? "Uh, Hey…"  
"So...just us now, eh?"  
Tavros, now thoroughly creeped out just nodded, giving a sigh of relief when he pulled away, knowing he was probably just taking the blue and orange jersey off that was apart of the uniform. Tavros, on the other hand, saw this as an escape from him "So uh, I'm gonna go, get outta my uniform,,, " he said, already shuffling away before dashing off, not even giving Cronus a chance to reply.

He got to his apartment without so much of a peep from Cronus, slumping against the wall ad he tore the jersey part of his uniform off, crumpling the blue and orange fabric up and throwing it to the ground. He wished silently he could just fire him or something, but that'd cause more problems. "I can, deal with it" he sighed, picking the jersey and walking to his room, stripping of his outfit to change into his pajamas. With how long he's taking, Cronus should definitely get the hint he didn't want to do anything if he just didn't go back downstairs, Right?

Going through his normal nightly routine of washing his face and brushing out his styled hair, showing off that mullet he didn't care to cut off.As he brushed his teeth, his heart didn't stop racing and that feeling of worry didn't go away, Tavros pausing and just sighing, looking up into the mirror into his own brown eyes, everything silent except the soft noise of...an arcade game? Great. Cronus was playing a game while waiting for him to get downstairs, probably the new game to be honest. Whatever, Tavros at this point couldn't care less if he'd stay there all night waiting, he's bound to get the hint at some point, right? With a sigh, Tavros turned the light off as he walked to his bed, sitting on it and quickly taking his prosthetics off so he could lay down, pulling the blankets up to his neck so he could get comfortable, sighing as he closed his eyes, eager to become dead to the world.

Then he heard it, a blood boiling scream rang out, breaking the silence as his eyes snapped open.  
Then, silence again.


	2. Blurred lines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tavros is awoken by a scream for help, only to find the invitation expired.

There was a blood boiling scream that tore Tavros out of his bed, him fumbling to put his prosthetics on so he could go downstairs, grabbing the robe that was by his door to wrap around himself. Hey, he has to look decent for whatever serial killer is downstairs, or whatever was the source of the scream.

Throwing the door open, he ran down the stairs that led downstairs into the workers lounge, which was criminally small and right now, served no purpose except to be in his way. Bursting through the doors, he looked around, everything so oddly...peaceful.   
"Cronus?" he called out, nothing answered him except an electronic rhythm...really, the game? Tavros sighed, piecing together some story about Cronus getting spooked and running off because of something, heading on over to the game to turn it off. That is, until he tripped over something. Looking down slowly as he gathered the slack of his robes, he prepared himself for it to be something horrible, but it was probably just his paranoia getting the best, or well worst, of him….right?  
Wrong.  
Tavros had to cover his mouth to keep from screaming, his eyes locked on the bloody hand that held a still lit cigarette, and in that moment the world seemed to still. He knew who it belongs to, or well, belonged to. He couldn't see the rest of his body, not even a blood trail to indicate that it was real, or the body even existed. The only way he knew this wasn't some fucked up joke was the scream that had ripped him from his spot in bed. 

He took a deep breath, not touching the hand as he slowly made his way to the camera room, thank god for security cameras he thought as he slid into the chair by the monitor to see exactly what the fuck was up, and who could have possibly done something as horrid as what he assumed went down.   
As he watched through the footage of what actually happened, he had a deathly realization. 

It was much, much worse than he thought physically possible.  
He watched the monitor, face distorted in fear and disgust as impossibly long metal, cylindrical claws reached at who he once considered a...co-worker, at best. After a few moments of watching the claws do what he thought of indescribable things, he felt something from his gut come up to his mouth, soon scrambling to get to the waste bin next to his set up, falling to his knees as the events that were on the monitor replayed itself in his head over and over, causing him to slump over the basket as he squeezed his eyes shut. 

It seemed like hours before he stood up, but in reality it just took him a few minutes to recover, collecting himself before nervously walking out to the main arcade.  
Everything was just as he left it, no surprise, even the hand simply laid there, the cigarette in its iron grip now burnt out. But he couldn't help but look up to the new arcade game, the cause of the dismembered hand. He didn't move, hell, he felt as if he couldn't. But, he took a breath, stepped forward and used his robe to pick up the hand, immediately running to the waste bin to throw it away.   
Doing that made him pause. He was covering up a murder.   
A fucking murder.   
"That, I didn't commit," he reminded himself with an intake of air, then he slowly exhaled, counting the seconds. Calm down, Tavros, he thought to himself as he picked up the trash bag and tied it closed,then did it again with another bag. Covering up a murder isn't as hard as they show in the movies and shows, he thinks to himself as he walked out to throw the bag in the dumpster before checking the clock on the wall. It was only 10 PM, so he sighed and folded his robe up, throwing it on the stairs that led up to his apartment before heading to the workers lounge, kneeling down to the small fridge and grabbing the water bottle labeled with his name.   
Yeah, sure, it was in a water bottle but let's be honest, it wasn't water. He decided that after seeing an arcade machine kill his highschool sweetheart (that lasted a few weeks and was a reason to drink entirely in itself), he could have a few sips before bed.   
Walking out with the bottle in hand, he flipped the lights on in the main room and squinted his eyes at the sudden light, walking around idly at the arcade. 

It looks different when it's so empty, not even the sound of busy traffic outside to clog his thoughts up, letting the feeling of slight dread, but calm nonetheless. He guessed he felt calm because of the alcohol running through his system, but either way, he was glad his anxiety wasn't messing up.   
After a bit of idle walking and looking over each of his games, he looked up when he heard a soft beeping noise, before idle music he knew was from a machine, but not one so common he'd immediately recognize it. So, curiosity got the best of him and he began walking over to where the sound was. Fuck it, he thought, then followed that thought up with remembering those famous last words. Yeah, right, like the game would kill him...except now, that was entirely a possibility, he realized.   
Putting the fears that would, under normal circumstances be called irrational, behind him, following the noises took him right to what was now one of his top fears, the new arcade game. But honestly, he was too tired for this bullshit, but he sighed and leaned down to put a quarter in, but stopped when he heard the faint beeping of the game starting up already. Ok, whatever, might still have a quarter in it from whoever played it last, he reasoned. So, he started playing the platformer. 

As expected, it got slowly harder, each boss at the end of each stage got stronger than the last, but for someone who was buzzed, he thought he was doing pretty good so far. That was, until he reached what he assumed was the final boss. Each boss had a distinct look to it, like a pokemon gym trainer, he off-handedly noticed, except when it wasn't distinct.   
No, this one was painfully familiar.   
Black jacket, wife beater on, and pixel cigarette in mouth. Modelled obviously after Cronus. 

Taken aback, he stumbled backwards, what the hell? He didn't think he had that much to drink! But of course, because he had stopped playing, his character died and Tavros sighed. Ok, whatever, it was just a game. He could play, most literally, whenever he wanted.   
Sighing, he picked the water bottle up and began making his way to the stairs, that was, until he heard something.   
To be more specific, someone.   
"Tavros"   
He paused in his tracks, his heart skipping a beat as he dropped what was in his hand as he heard it again,  
"Tavros, honey"   
He slowly turned around, ready to face death (again), only to find…

...no one. He sighed, about to just brush it off as his imagination, before hearing it again, this time louder. "Tavros, closer".  
Curious, he replied "uh, wh-who are, uhm, you? Where-where?" he wondered if his reply was coherent enough. He got his answer when the other person (well, he hoped it was a person) replied.   
"Don't be silly, you know me, silly."  
Ok, now he knew it was his alcohol ridden imagination playing tricks on him. So, instead of actually replying, he promptly told it off and turned the lights off, ignoring a muffled reply and...thumping? Whatever, he sighed and walked into his apartment, closing and locking the door before sitting on his bed, taking his legs off and laying down, but not sleeping, not yet.   
Instead, he replayed all the events that had went on that night in his head, and came to the conclusion it was all fake, just a prank he hoped. When he woke up, Cronus would be there to creep on him, and the game would just be a game.   
His hopes became silent as he closed his eyes, falling into a restless sleep.


End file.
